Student teachers' motivation to become a secondary school teacher in England and Norway

This study sought to explore the reasons given by student teachers in influencing their choice to become a secondary school teacher. Some 105 student teachers in Stavanger and 112 student teachers in York completed a questionnaire at the beginning of their postgraduate teacher training course. Twelve student teachers from each sample were then interviewed. Both groups reported being strongly influenced by enjoying the subject they would teach, liking to work with children, and the fact that teaching would enable them to use their subject. This is broadly in line with other studies. However, there was tendency for more of the student teachers in the York sample, compared with the Stavanger sample, to place value on ‘wanting to help children succeed’ and ‘liking the activity of classroom teaching’; conversely, there was a tendency for more of the student teachers in the Stavanger sample, compared with the York sample, to place value on ‘long holidays’ and ‘social hours’. These tendencies may in lar...